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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / November 2006Question about hydraulic jacks
Hello again. Still working on a budget here but would like to get a hydraulic jack to use out in the pole building. I have smaller to medium large cars to take care of on a dirt floor with no heat. It would seem that ideally I should use a 3 or 3 1/2 Ton jack, but those suckers are pricey. I thought about a little $20 2 Ton job from Pep Boys but have to wonder if they have enough height and have they ever improved the hydraulics in them? I remember years ago an in-law replacing them over and over due to the hydraulics going bad in severe cold (although we saw -27F once, we usually only see about -10F a few times a year). I like to pick up vehicles by the entire front or back with the pumpkin balls or cross members so as to pull both wheels at once. Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? I have 2 of those $20.00 jacks and both are over 10 years old, well used and still working year round up here in our Canadian weather. I have one other a tenant bought that worked once and he was too lazy to return it.... I have a half dirt half paved work area and these jacks like to sink into both because of the small wheels. I use a plate of plywood under them which helps. And just an FYI for you. Some of the newer vehicles like the Jeep Grand Cherokee come with really junk aluminum rear ends. If you lift these new vehicles via the pumpkin, the axle tubes will bend enough to cause bearing and seal failure. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2115147590 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page) > Hello again. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree > mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? Thanks, Mike. The main use is still under the 86 AMC Eagle... although it's starting to require too many jackings, LOL! It's good to know that about the newer vehicles... I never considered that. Maybe I'll try one of those before I go out and fork over a hundred beans on a better one. Are these high enough to pick up both wheels at once? Thanks again. >I have 2 of those $20.00 jacks and both are over 10 years old, well used > and still working year round up here in our Canadian weather. I have [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] >> Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree >> mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? I can pick up both back wheels at once on my CJ7 with it's 33" tires using the pumpkin so yes, it shouldn't have issues with the Eagle. How is yours running? Does it have the 258 in it like my CJ7? They seem to all get the same quirks in them as they get older. LOL! I dumped the Ford emissions computer and manually tune mine now. They take a little tinkering, but once set up, they go good and still pass the emissions sniffer up here in Canada. Mike > Thanks, Mike. > [quoted text clipped - 52 lines] > >> Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree > >> mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? >I can pick up both back wheels at once on my CJ7 with it's 33" tires > using the pumpkin so yes, it shouldn't have issues with the Eagle. Thanks. I'll look around tomorrow and see if one store's 20 bucker lifts any higher than the others, but they likely all come from the same place. > How is yours running? Does it have the 258 in it like my CJ7? They > seem to all get the same quirks in them as they get older. LOL! It's running kinda medium... but at this stage that's good. We've discussed this car and it's predicessor before. Still leaks oil like the dickenz, but, like my last one, it's been doing it for the last 60,000 miles and it could probably go another 60 that way. It's still got good compression, so at this stage it's cheaper to dump a quart every few hundred miles than to tear it down. Frigging front full-time hubs are always going bad just like they all do. Rear end is starting to do the Wagoneer Whistle but some of those go on forever that way while a few go quick so I'm going to wait it out. I am, however worried that there might be something else sick in the rear end, but that's a different post for a different day. If parts weren't starting to get so danged expensive I'd look for another low mileage one and do it yet again. I couldn't find that Grosse Jet you suggested, but I might try again as I can no longer buy just the needle valve having to keep buying full rebuild sets instead. I > dumped the Ford emissions computer and manually tune mine now. They > take a little tinkering, but once set up, they go good and still pass > the emissions sniffer up here in Canada. I looked at your site about that, but chickened out. I kinda hollowed out the catalytic for a little extra uuumpf and think that I might put it into the unpassable range. Considered a way to do it with plugs so I could put it back for the test but that's as far as I went. > Mike > [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] >> >> Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree >> >> mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? > Maybe I'll try one of those before I go out and fork over > a hundred beans on a better one. Hey, just an amateur dame here who used scissor jacks and stands for years. Then I saw a sale at a Checker auto parts store last summer and bought a little two ton rolling hydraulic floor jack and jackstand set for I think $20 net (a rebate was involved). I figured if the jack lasted several jobs, I'd get my money's worth. I used it to rebuild most of my 1991 Civic's suspension this past summer, rotating tires, and other things. Love it. I already feel it paid for itself. Height is a concern. My little floor jack's height maximum is 13 inches, minimum 5 inches. IIRC it will not lift the back of my Honda, due to lack of height. It will lift the front sufficiently all at once for some jobs, but I think I ended up just doing one side at a time most of the time with it, because this allowed me to get to the needed height the quickest. That Harbor Freight model (see Comboverfish's post), with a height of 19 inches, looks like a good deal. Watch for sales at Harbor Freight, too. They happen a lot. > Are these high enough to pick up both wheels at once? >> Maybe I'll try one of those before I go out and fork over a hundred beans >> on a better one. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > >> Are these high enough to pick up both wheels at once? Thanks... I'll keep looking at the height issues a little. > Hello again. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > Have they improved these little jacks enough for the basic shade tree > mechanic's purposes? Do they still have lots of trouble? You can get this or something like it at Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=4172 I don't know if these types of asian medium frame jacks have filtered into the parts stores, Sears, etc yet -- at least at this price. You can't beat them for the price, though. I had one last about 8 years and I am 5 years into my second one. It's not professional quality, but still very good for the home user. Toyota MDT in MO >> Hello again. >> [quoted text clipped - 30 lines] > > Toyota MDT in MO Thanks. Don't have a harbor freight around here, but I'll look around and see what's comparable. I'm getting that I dread going through farting around with all the jacks more than the actual jobs and would love to throw a plate down and just roll something under there and get on with things. >> You can get this or something like it at Harbor Freight: >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks. Don't have a harbor freight around here, Indeed you do not. You are in Canada. But do you have a Princess Auto? That's the same idea as Harbor Freight, but located in Canada. www.princessauto.com I found they have a jack, but strangely no price listed. Lifts to 20-1/2". <http://www.princessauto.com/_osn.cfm?CTRY=CAN&output=OSN&SRCH=1&SRCHAREA=OSN&T1= 2-3/4%20TON%20%20FLOOR%20JACK>  SignatureTegger > But do you have a Princess Auto? That's the same idea as > Harbor Freight, but located in Canada. > www.princessauto.com > > I found they have a jack, but strangely no price listed. Hey, I just had another look at the page loaded in my browser, and it seems the price popped up later on, on its own. $75 Cdn. SignatureTegger The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ |
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